Aresti,
Have you tried the GMS/Tower muffler? It makes quite a difference. Of course, I think I got pretty lucky with my FX. A go-fast guy around here stuck a tach on it and seemed pretty impressed.
That being said, a little more power would be ok.
On those hot days I could use it.
Maybe 30% nitro?

You are dead on about its size being tricky on advanced routines.
Sportsman is no problem, but higher up, Yeah.
Then again, for $150 plane and $100 motor, who can complain?

Now if Great Planes could find it within its heart to do a 72" X 72" Venus and keep it light for the same price point as their Giles 202?
MMMM yeah!

I have a Kaos 60 size,sheeted foam core wing, and it is an excellent pattern bird. I have not tried the new Kaos from Tower so I can`t compare the 2. I do know the Tower Kaos is much smaller. I also use an Aresti for pattern flying. It works out very well.

have a venus with a saito 72, and vertical is unlimited with a 12X8 prop. love the plane, good for entry pattern flying. added no weight to balance it, just moved the battery back behind the CG. test flying my tai ji on saturday! can't wait....

Pardon me for asking a dumb question, but is a dummy pilot such as Williams Brothers Plastic bust required for AMA pattern? I just bot a Venus and would rather not mess with installing a "pilot" etc. Thanks!

No pilot, no instrument panel. Basic airplane requirements for pattern are:

11 LB limit.
Max 2 meter wingspan / fuse length.
Sportsman cannot fly retracts or must fly with gear down.
No scale requirement necessary. Most pattern planes are not scale.

Most contests that I've been to would relax the above rules to a degree if you showed up with a plane that was slightly heavy or large. I've only been to about 8 contests, but I've never seen a scale or measuring tape at one of them. Just don't show up with a 44%! Fly it to have fun.. It's a blast!

For full details and rules, go to modelaircraft.org and check out the RC Aerobatics competition regulations. Good read that has all rules / sequences, manuver descriptions, etc. Hope this helps, Chuck

No pilot is required in the plane for AMA pattern contest.

hurrah....i flew my old (9yrs) 60 size kaos to first place last year too!....great flying frame....working on scratch building a 2M now...cheap way out...sort of... www.geocities.com/markhunt_2000/INSIGHT

I wasn't happy with an enya 50 cx in the front so I upgraded to an OS 61 sf, and by crikey, she'll tractor out of anything I give her..

I removed all the pushrods from the rear end and used a y connector mounted to a fibreglass arrowshaft for the elevators and s/steel cables for the rudder, the authority is awesome. Too good in fact.

I don't trust pushrods on rudders for the very reasons described here.

On a sad note, my Kaos is done. Lost control last Saturday and put it into a 6ft deep drainage ditch. Created a spectacular geiser tho. Went in full throttle. Don`t know if the battery died or what.
It was an old battery pack but working perfectly up til the crash.
Can`t check it, it is under water at the bottom of the ditch. Don`t know if I will rebuild the Kaos yet. Still thinking about it. The wing is undamaged. The fuse needs to be almost totaly replaced.

got a venus 2 weeks ago..
LOVE IT!!!!
.46 FX WITH MACS tuned muffler
(this is my old trainer motor..been nosed in full power 4 times that i can recall..:-( )
put a perry pump on it to help with the tank height issue..
cant hardly imagine a satio or os 4s in the 70 size..would be awesome

greay value for pattern..and flys on rails...and will snap til the cows come home..!!!!
Got to love that HUGE rudder

Tony

Well, I flew my Venus 40 today.

What a great plane! Such a pleasure to fly one that is as sensitive and aerobatic as an Extra, but with not the slightest hint of a snap when using extreme elevator movement.

I feel I can at last trust a plane that can snap as viciously as you like when you mean to, and yet doesn't make you gingerly give up elevator to recover from a vertical dive.

Great plane; Great Price. Nice on Great Planes!

-David C.

I have a Majestic 1400 that has a TT46 PRO on it and it is the best 40 size plane I have ever flown, flew it the other day in a wind of 18MPH with gust to 26 handled exactly the same as the Focus as for as wind corrections go this is now my bad weather day plane for pattern practice looking forward to heavier winds with it, now the thing is a Friend has the Venus and it is real close to the same flight as the Majestic, oh using a 12 1/4 X 3 3/4 apc prop. gives better down line braking than the Master airscrew 10X7. And they are cheap to run and easy to assemble at the Field, or can even keep together if you don't have 2- 2 meter planes in you van like me. $237 for Venus and TT 46 pro from Tower, nice cheap comb.
Steve Maxwell

Sorry about the loss... The 40 sized Kaos from tower feels just like the big one. I have an O.S .46 with a MA 11x6 and can go vertical from takeoff to about 300-400 feet.

Highly recommended if you can't locate another 60-sized kit.

O.K.
Thats enough of the Kaos.
I want a plane that is a little more authentic to a pattern plane.
This is why I chose the Venus, I also like the Ti Ji for Pattern.
I really don't like the Kaos because it flies to forgivingly.
I want a plane that will fly on rails
More info on different planes would be nice.
Thank you.
Paul Terry

Easy Paul, I was just giving GClassen some info on the 40 sizes Kaos after his loss

I agree the Venus is a great airplane.

Gimme a couple weeks and I can tell ya about this one. Bisson Mufflers has acouple others too.
Glass cowls and pants, pre installed/pinned hinges, all wood, just glue the wings together, attach tail feathers, engine and radio, and it's all ready!

No offense dude, that's a asian built "seagull model"

The hardware used in that plane won't be anywhere near what you get in a GP kit...

And besides, the Venus looks sooooo sexy...

*drools*

I wasn't expecting to say this, as I'm a confirmed SIG addict, but I flew my Venus (OS61FX) again today, and it's the best plane I have ever flown.

Sensitive but incredibly predictable. You can fling it around the sky without worrying about unwanted snaps or delayed recovery from vicious spins, or do great long slow aerobatics like it's on rails.

A perfect match for the OS 61FX if you put the rudder servo underneath the rear of the fuselage, with 2-56 steel pull-pull.

-David C.

Why on earth would you put a OS .61 on your Venus. Sounds like overweight/overkill

If you need more power than the 46FX or 50sx then get the 65LA. It weighs less than the 61FX and has very good power. After trying the 65LA I will never purchase a 61FX.

It's a perfect match.

With the layout of servos I have installed, there's no weight added to get perfect balance either, which means the total model weight increases by only the difference between a 46 with a standard muffler, and a 61 with a Pitts muffler - i.e. around 4 ounces.

I think it can handle that!

-David C.

According to the weight comparisons I've seen, the 61FX is 0.5 ounce heavier than the 65LA.

My 61FX I have has now been in about 8 models, and has never, ever, gone dead stick on me, in spite of my favourite aerobatic manoeuvre being a hammer head! It starts, literally when first mounted in a plane, first flick, and then you just have to look at it to start it again!

The LA has no ball bearings and a bleed carb, if I'm not mistaken.

The only reason I'd go away from a 61FX for that size of plane is to put one of my Saitos in it, or if I was feeling particularly silly, the 91FX in it, which is about the same weight - all 2.8 bhp of it!

Nah! Give me a 61 FX any day.

-David C.

Why pay 50 bucks more for the same performance? My 65LA swings a 12x6 at 14K, in the first half gallon. After I finish the gallon I'm going to a 13x6. The engine will swing up to a 13x8.

Why exactly would an engine go dead stick during a hammer head? I don't understand why you feel the need to point out that you do this maneuver, since no engine I know has a tendancy to die in that particular maneuver.

The 65LA has no bearings and a bleed carb, but throttle resolution is excellent and the power cannot be denied. So why pay 50 bucks more?

Looks like we are going to have to agree to disagree!

I mentioned a hammerhead because it's the manoeuvre I thought of that combines the engine leaning out on full throttle as it goes up, with a sudden chopping of the throttle in an attitude that was not used to tune the engine in the first place, followed by a big demand on a smooth transition into a higher throttle setting with the likelihood of fuel starvation becoming excessive fueling. In my book, that is subjecting the engine to changes, and it's changes that cause engine stoppages.

My 61FX has also not stopped in level constant speed flight!

Only today, I saw three dead sticks caused by, in two cases, tail slides, and the other case a hammerhead.

Are you sure you haven't seen an engine stop in extreme circumstances like those?

As for putting half a gallon through it (you imply that is all you have done so far), lets compare notes again when it's had 10 gallons through it.

David C.

Would just like to add in some words about my favorite plane!The Aresti by hanger 9.This plane never ceases to amaze me.The flight characteristics of this plane ,to me,are incredible.Knife edge,rolling 8's,clean snaps and talk about speed.With those thin wings it's a bit hard to slow down.But once you master that the plane is really one kick in the pants to fly!So for $170 it's worth every penny.